How much super do I pay, and when is it due?
Super is 12% on top of their ordinary earnings, and since 1 July 2026 it has to be paid on every payday. Not quarterly. The old rhythm — bank it up, pay it four times a year — is gone. Under the payday super rules the contribution has to reach their fund within seven business days of you paying them.
Miss it and you are not simply late — you fall into the super guarantee charge, which is not deductible and is calculated on a wider base than the super you were meant to pay. It is one of the few bills in small business that gets meaningfully worse for being small and late.
Is PAYG withholding a cost to me?
No — you hold tax back out of their pay and send it to the ATO. It never belonged to you. The trap is cash flow: the money sits in your account looking like income until the day it doesn't. How much you hold back depends on whether they claimed the tax-free threshold, whether they have a HELP debt, and which schedule applies. Take the figure from the ATO's own tax tables, not a rule of thumb — the difference between the 2 withholding schedules on a full time wage is real money.
When do I need workers compensation cover?
Before their first day. Being between policies is not a defence if someone gets hurt on day one. Every state and territory runs its own scheme and the premium turns on your location and your trade, so there is no single number worth quoting — the calculator above defaults to 4% of wages so you have somewhere to start. Your own public liability policy does not cover your employees. That is a different thing entirely, and assuming otherwise is the expensive mistake here.
What does paid leave actually cost me?
It costs you the weeks nobody is on the tools — annual leave, public holidays and sick days — and the calculator above starts at 6.6 of them a year, which you should change to your own figure. A permanent employee accrues annual and personal leave from their first day. It is not a weekly bill, it is a liability building quietly, and it lands the week they take a holiday and you are paying 2 people to do one person's work. A casual gets a loading instead of accruing leave, which is why the hourly figure looks higher. That is not generosity, it is the leave paid as you go.
Does the award override what I want to pay?
Yes. Most trades sit under a modern award, and the award sets the floor: minimum rates by classification and year, allowances, overtime, when penalty rates start. An apprentice's rate moves as they progress. Paying "a fair rate" is not a defence if the award says a different number — the obligation is to the award, not to what feels reasonable, and underpayments are recovered with interest. Finding the right award is step two on the hiring checklist.
What does Yamate do with all this?
It runs the pay from the details you have entered, calculates PAYG and super, and produces a payslip that itemises what it has to. Where it can confidently match the selection to published Fair Work data, it shows that published figure beside the rate you have entered; it does not decide which award or classification legally applies. It tells you when the super has to reach the fund and nags you before it does, not after. Your first hire also gets their own login if you want one — they see their jobs without seeing your books — and Yamate keeps their licences, tickets and insurance dates beside yours and warns you before any of them lapse. Yamate does not report your payroll to the ATO, and does not claim to. You lodge; Yamate prepares.
The same numbers, every payday, without the spreadsheet
You now know what a hand costs. Doing it fortnightly — the pay, the payslip, the super timing, the records — is where it turns into a job of its own.
Set up pay runs in Yamate → Free to try · no card · sign in with a link, no password to rememberFAQ
How much super do I pay an apprentice?
The same 12% of ordinary time earnings as anyone else. Age-based exemptions were removed for most workers, and under-18s have their own hours test — Yamate asks the questions that change the answer rather than assuming.
Do I still pay super quarterly?
No. Since 1 July 2026, super has to be paid on each payday and reach the fund within seven business days.
Can I just put them on as a subcontractor instead?
Only if they genuinely are one. Handing someone an ABN does not make them a contractor — the test looks at how the work actually runs, and getting it wrong means back-paying super, leave and entitlements. If they work your hours, with your tools, under your direction, that is an employee.
What do I need before day one?
Workers compensation cover, their TFN declaration and super choice, their fund details, and a way to produce a payslip within one working day of each pay.
Does a payslip have to be itemised?
Yes — a payslip has to show the specific things the regulations list, including how the pay is made up. "Total: $1,140" on its own is not a payslip.
More for tradies
General information for Australian employers, not tax, legal or industrial relations advice. Super and withholding obligations depend on facts this page cannot see, awards differ by trade and classification, and workers compensation is run separately by each state and territory. The 12% super guarantee rate and the payday super timing were checked on 13 August 2026; check the ATO, Fair Work and your state regulator before you act.